Picture source: Getty ImagesIndian social classified startups like Fxchng.com, Listup and Yappily are hopeful that with Facebook launching its Marketplace, a hyper-local and community-driven online shopping that matches local buyers and sellers, will validate the concept, there would be an increase in acceptance and understanding of uses of social classified in India as well. "It serves as a great validation for the large market opportunity for social classifieds and will likely improve understanding and acceptance of the model by the consumers," said Shubhankar Bhattacharya, venture partner, Kae-Capital. Freecharge's Kunal Shah and Kae-Capital recently invested in Mumbai-based social classified startup Listup.

“Facebook marketplace would help make a good proof-of-concept case for social commerce,“ says Aayush Mazumdar, co-founder of Yappily, an app-based social classified startup that has 15,000 online app users and an additional 15,000 via offline connect called Yappily DeClutter Sale & Flea Market in and around Bengaluru. According to Rauf Saiyed, founder of Fxchng.com, though online classified sites have been around for a while, there is still a huge gap in the market, as it was still not easy to validate the reliability and authenticity of the buyers and sellers.

“Social classified solves the issue of trust by adding a social layer,“ he adds. Vadodara-based Fxchng.com has 12,000-plus downloads and claims a growth rate of 25% month-on-month.

Currently, India has two major online classified players -OLX and Quikr.

As per a study by Ken Research, Indian classified market alone is expected to cross Rs. 195.3 billion by FY 2020 of which the online classified segment is expected to contribute Rs 8,200 crore.

However, startups believe that India would need something more than just a social classified as Facebook's Marketplace might be good for developed countries as it has highly developed infrastructure and high education rates. “We need social aided classified commerce and not just social classified commerce," said Mazumdar. Last week, Facebook (re)launched its Marketplace that lets users browse a relevancy-sorted feed of things to buy from people who live nearby, and also allows users to list their own stuff for sale.

Facebook has identified Marketplace as a potential $5 billion-plus annual revenue opportunity for FB in long-term. Currently, it's available only in the US, the UK, New Zealand and Australia.